Far right protesters have stormed an inner Melbourne council meeting to protest against its decision to scrap references to Australia Day and no longer conduct citizenship ceremonies on that date.
Seven men from the Party for Freedom group waved placards and flags, shouted “Aussie pride, nationwide”, “shame” and “disgrace” through megaphones after they crashed the City of Yarra council meeting in Richmond at about 7pm on Tuesday. “The ones who should call Australia home are Australians,” one protester shouted.
Mayor Amanda Stone said: “It was disruptive and it was disappointing ... eventually they left after a few minutes and one even apologised for disrupting the meeting,” Stone said.
Police were called and stayed at the hall for some time after the disruption but no arrests were made.
Last month, the federal government stripped Yarra council of the power to hold citizenship ceremonies after it voted unanimously to stop referring to 26 January as Australia Day and end its tradition of holding citizenship ceremonies on that date in recognition of it being a day of distress for many Indigenous people.
At the time, Stone said: “People can still have their barbecues and parties on the January 26 public holiday but I hope our stance encourages people to stop and think about what this date really means in the history of our nation.”
After the move, the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said: “An attack on Australia Day is a repudiation of the values the day celebrates: freedom, a fair go, mateship and diversity.”
Days later, Darebin council followed suit and voted to move its citizenship ceremonies to another date. The deputy mayor, Gaetano Greco, said: “We’re trying to have a party on a day where it basically was a day of invasion and Australia’s brutal colonisation,” he said. “New migrants who become aware of January 26 will not want to become an Australian citizen on that particular day.”
Australian Associated Press contributed to this report
